Italy tops USA to win volleyball women's World Cup
NAGOYA, Japan (AFP) — European champions Italy scratched out a tough win against the United States on Friday to win the women's World Cup volleyball tournament for the first time.
Their 25-20, 25-18, 27-25 victory was the squad's 11th straight win in the 12-team round-robin competition, where the top three finishers -- Italy, the United States and Brazil -- have qualified for the next year's Olympics.
The Americans ended with a 9-2 win-loss record for third behind Brazil, which silenced a loud partisan crowd in its defeat of Japan 2-16, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18.
Brazil ended with the same record as the Americans but took the silver medal thanks to a better points ratio.
"We made history," said Italy's captain Eleonora Lo Bianco. "It was not easy, but we were able to play tenaciously till the end. Although we've already earned a ticket for Beijing yesterday, we wanted to finish with a win."
Italy's coach Massimo Barbolini attributed the victory -- capping an undefeated tournament for the team -- to their hard work "with a little bit of fortune."
"For us, it was important to win the last match, because it's a great result to win 11 matches in a row. My players have (had) a wonderful season, they wanted to finish this way.
US coach, Lang Ping, said her team did not have enough time to train together for the two-week tournament.
"They (Italy) have a great team. I think we played well, but at critical moments we made too many errors. We have so much homework to do. Hopefully, we can have more time to train together," said Lang.
"In the Olympics, there will be more teams, stronger teams, including Italy. I really hope to have enough time to train. We have a lot to do to become a great team," said Lang.
Four-time champions Cuba downed world bronze medallists Serbia in a tight game 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-22, and the Dominican Republic came from two sets behind to beat Peru in a nail biting match 23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-10, 15-13.
Former European champions Poland outclassed Asian bronze medallists Thailand 25-15, 25-17, 25-22, while South Korea outgunned champions Kenya 25-16, 25-17, 25-12.
Cuba ended with a 8-3 record at fourth, Serbia 7-4 at fifth, Poland 6-5 at sixth, Japan 6-5 at seventh, South Korea 4-7 at eighth, the Dominican Republic 3-8 at ninth, Thailand 2-9 at 10th, Peru 1-10 at 11th ahead of winless Kenya.
